


The In Between

by moviesnbooksntvohmy



Category: Code Black (TV)
Genre: Christeal, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-08
Updated: 2016-02-19
Packaged: 2018-05-19 00:17:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5948836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moviesnbooksntvohmy/pseuds/moviesnbooksntvohmy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The moments in between what we see on the show.<br/>Fluffiness that we are not given by the CB writers!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_I still have to live with the fact that…_  
_I know, I know, I know_

  
Christa took some deep breaths and closed her eyes. She focused on how Neal smelled and his breath on her face, his forehead against hers. She felt all of her anger, all of her pain dull as she focused on only Neal. She slowly opened her eyes and looked into his. She was afraid of what she would see, afraid that a mask of professionalism would snap back in to place. She drew in a breath at his look though, because all she saw was warmth, compassion, and a little something else. Something that, in her weaker moments, she would have hoped was love. She gave up all the reasons she’d concocted in her head as to why she shouldn’t kiss him. All the reasons that she shouldn’t let herself truly feel all the emotions she had regarding him. She leaned in until their lips met and once it started she knew she was in trouble.

  
Kissing Neal was better than she had imagined it would be. They started slowly, getting to know each other intimately. Quickly they caught up to each other’s rhythm, so quickly in fact that it was almost as if this had been meant to happen. Physically it made sense. They had spent almost all her residency so far together. They knew how to work with each other without even thinking about it, why shouldn’t their bodies catch up to each other in this regard to? Things heated up as his tongue met the seal of her lips and she opened hers letting him explore her mouth. Her hands moved up to his hair. Oh god, she had wanted to run her hands through his hair for so long. It was as thick and soft as it looked, another thing she had wondered about in her downtime. She sighed into his mouth as his hands wrapped around her waist and pulled her closer. They continued to kiss until they had to pull away and catch their breath.

  
“We should get back to work,” Neal said softly after a moment had passed. Christa tensed up and looked down at the ground stepping out of his embrace.

“Yeah, I’m sorry about all that…” she trailed off and tried to move around him and head out of the supply room. He grabbed her around the waist and stabilized her.

“No, Christa. Please look at me.” She glanced up solely hoping he wasn’t just going to try and minimize the awkwardness of brushing off what had just happened. She met his gaze and saw that look again, the warm, maybe even loving, one. A smile slowly spread across her face as Neal leaned down and kissed her softly. “Let’s go get back to work and finish up quickly. Then maybe we could go and get breakfast?”

She grinned up at him. “Breakfast?”

“Yes. It’s traditionally done in the morning. With food.”

“And Bloody Mary’s?” She smirked.

“Well, it has been a long night. I would say we probably earned it,” He smiled warmly at her and leaned his forehead against hers. They gazed at each other a moment, enjoying the intimacy of it. “Christa,” Neal spoke softly, “you are amazing. As a doctor and as a woman.” Christa felt tears that had recently subsided well back up in her eyes.

“I bet you say that to all the 36 year-old blond residents you find crying in the supply room.” Neal barked out a laugh and shifted up to kiss her forehead.

“Yes. All one of them,” he smiled. “Meet you outside in an hour?”

“Definitely,” she answered as he left first giving her a moment to compose herself and head back out to finish up the shift.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Christa took a deep breath and checked her hair in the little mirror in her locker one more time. A date with Neal. A real date, not an accidental run-in breakfast. Who would have thought her day would turn out like this? She shut her locker and turned straight into the last person she wanted to see at the moment. The day hadn’t totally turned around apparently. Gina was standing nervously in front of her. Nervous was never something Christa had rarely seen on Gina Perello. For all her issues with Gina the woman was truly fearless, something Christa hoped to be one day. Gina began speaking rapidly.

“Christa I am so sorry. I wanted to apologize again for how things happened the way that they did. I had no idea….I am very sorry.” Gina held Christa’s gaze and spoke with true sincerity. Christa deflated some and realized that, as much as she wanted to, she couldn’t make Gina feel worse.

“Dr. Perello, I understand the choice you had to make. It was hard, and I am not trying to be mean here, but I have my own regret to live with now. I can’t live with yours too. So, please don’t ask me to.” Gina nodded slowly and put a hand on Christa’s arm for a moment.

“Enjoy your time away from this place,” Gina said and stepped out of Christa’s way. “See you tomorrow.” Christa walked around Gina and walked at a quicker pace than usual. She may not be able to blame Gina the way she wanted, but their interaction brought back all Christa’s frustration with herself. She blew out of front doors of the hospital and around the corner practically running to her car.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” a hand grabbed her arm gently. “Such a rush for our breakfast?” He asked jokingly, a small crease marked in his forehead as he studied her closely. Christa instantly felt herself relax and let herself be pushed up against the wall and met Neal’s lips with her own. She could feel the grin on his lips and they hungrily delved into the kiss. One hand settled on her lower back and the other moved up the back of her neck as hers moved up his body. She cupped his cheek with one hand and moved the other into his hair. Neal must have been magic because all of Christa’s negative emotions fell away when they kissed. As the intensity subsided and the kissing slowed to a leisurely pace, Neal regretfully pulled away and chuckled.

“It’s beginning to look like I am going to have to do that every time you get upset. Look how nicely it calms you down.”

“I’m going to have to get upset at least four times a day. Probably more,” she flirted back at him. She smiled and shook his head.

“Let’s go eat.” He grabbed her hand and turned towards the parking lot.

“Just eat?” Christa wiggled he eyebrows suggestively. Neal stopped and wrapped his arms around her.

“It’s been a long night and I just want to be with you” he muttered softly. She leaned her head down and placed it over his heart and let him hold her a minute longer.

“Okay,” she agreed, moving to look at him, “but, I warn you, I’m only at my best after, like, at least four pancakes and a Bloody Mary.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that” he smiled warmly at her. She was momentarily blown away by the warmth and affection she saw in his eyes.

“Yeah, well, you haven’t seen me after pancakes, so...” They both laughed and Neal pulled Christa towards his car.


	2. Breakfast Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christa and Neal get to their breakfast date and get to know each other a bit more as romantic interests instead of just friends.

“Thank you,” Neal smiled at the waitress as she took their menus and walked away.

“This place is nice,” Christa complimented.

“It’s one of the only places around here that reminds me of home. We had a café similar to it by my childhood home. Unfortunately, food in England is not all that good, so luckily this place improves on it,” Neal grinned.

“Mmm, I don’t believe you. I’ve always wanted to go to England. In my imagination everything there is wonderful” Christa confessed wistfully. Neal winked at her.

“I’m so sorry to ruin the dream, but English food is barely qualified to be called a cuisine. We Brits just like to steal other nationalities food and leave it at that.”

“Well, fine. I’ve always wanted to go to Paris for the food anyways. I can still dream about the sights and famous stuff in England.”

“England is a fairly amazing place. I appreciate it a lot more now that I’m away. Living in such a historical city is quite the experience,” he smiled warmly at her. “You would love it I’m sure.” Christa’s face heated up at the promise in his voice.

“I’m sure I will one day,” she said quietly.

“Someday,” he nodded, not taking his intense gaze off of her. Christa flushed completely and held his gaze. Nonverbal communication about what their future could hold. Even though it was too early to verbalize it, they both knew what they wanted to happen.

“Here you go!” The waitress interrupted cheerfully. Both Neal and Christa were jolted out of their little would and they accepted the Bloody Mary’s she had supplied. Christa tipped her towards Neal.

“Cheers,” she said as he knocked his glass against hers.

“Cheers to finally having breakfast together on purpose,” Neal teased. Christa nodded emphatically as she took her first sip.

“Cheers to you not getting weird and distant after this date,” she laughed, winking at him. He laughed and took his own sip.

“I did not get ‘weird and distant’,” he argued.

“You tried to!” she retorted. “Regret about fraternization between management and staff or something like that.” She looked at him triumphantly. He shook his head, enjoying how lovely she looked when she was so sure of herself.

“Christa, I have never regretted anything that happened between us. Well…not our first date by any means. You were just still so new and I would never want something that happened between us to hurt you or your career and image. I knew I was being selfish by pursuing you and I needed to make sure you were reminded that nothing in your life affected how good of a doctor you are.” He reached over and grabbed her hand which had been laying on the table. She turned it so that palm up and laced her fingers with his.

“You’re quite the charmer, Hudson,” she smiled coyly, “and, you know, literally everything you say sounds better because of the accent.” He chuckled and ran his fingers along the sensitive skin of her inner arms.

“It usually bothers me how obsessed you lot are with the accent, but I am glad it impresses you,” he spoke slowly, his eyes darkening some. Christa shifted in her seat a bit and felt her heart speed up.

“Yeah, it has pretty much been working to your advantage since the moment we met. And I’ve managed to be a great doctor despite the sexy distraction. It has been so difficult.”

He chuckled, “Poor Doctor Lorenson, your job sounds terribly hard.”

“My job is so hard. Hopefully, it’s not the only thing though…” she raised her eyebrows and winked.

“Christa Lorenson. Was that another innuendo?”

“Another?”

“Mmmhhhmmmm, Ms. ‘I’m going to bed, want to come?” Christa burst out laughing and quickly defended herself.

“That was so embarrassing! And it came out completely wrong,”

Neal quirked an eyebrow and stopped rubbing her arm briefly. “How was it supposed to come out right?” He asked incredulously. Christa rolled her eyes in response.

“I think it was supposed to be a segue into asking you to breakfast. I don’t know, socially my words don’t always work with you.”

“I have that same problem,” he grinned, “I wanted to tell you yes and instead I said ‘excuse me’. I did want to answer in the affirmative though.”

“So why didn’t you?” Christa challenged.

“I’m very British. I find emotional encounters that I’m unprepared for uncomfortable. I over think and impose logic on emotional things.” He shrugged and resumed the pattern he had been tracing on her arm. With that intimate action Christa felt her skin warm and her heart speed up again. She gazed at Neal for a moment, enjoying the vulnerability he was willing to show her.

“Neal, if that’s true, then we wouldn’t be here right now,” she pointed out. He nodded thoughtfully.

“Except that being in extremely close contact with you throws all my rules out the window. Feeling your breath, hearing your little gasps, smelling whatever it is that smells so good on you…being that close to you breaks me down.” He admitted this all softly while looking down at her wrist as he stroked it. When he was finished he looked up to see Christa’s reaction. She beamed at him and leaned across the table.

“I am very, very happy that you found me crying and got all up in my space,” she whispered keeping her lips centimeters from his and staring into his eyes. Time froze for a moment and then Neal grabbed the back of her head and pulled her towards him and closing the distance between them. Christa moaned slightly as their lips met. This was all she ever wanted to be doing. That made the interrupting throat clearing all the more annoying. They pulled apart and Christa guiltily sat back in her chair as the waitress set their plates down.

“Anything else?” The waitress asked coyly.

“No, we’re good.” Neal answered quickly, trying to move the interaction along.

“Yeah, it looks like you are,” the waitress laughed as she turned and walked away. Neal and Christa made eye contact and burst out laughing at the same time.

“This is a lot of food,” Christa observed, cutting into her pancakes.

“Well, you did say you were only at your best after four pancakes. I wanted to put that theory to the test,” Neal chuckled and dug into his full English breakfast.

“I did say that,” she conceded, “what’s your favorite food?” She looked at him expectantly as she drizzled on the syrup.

“Hmmm. My all-time favorite is probably lasagna.” She looked at him with incredulity written all over her face. “What?” he feigned annoyance, “am I supposed to like curry?”

Christa laughed merrily and explained, “No, I just didn’t picture a guy who looks like that,” she gestured towards his torso, “to say such a fattening comfort food.”

“I didn’t say I ate it daily,” he conceded, “but my dad used to make it. It was a special dish, something he didn’t have time to do often, and I loved it.”

“That is very sweet. I cannot picture your dad cooking though.”

“Yeah, well, it didn’t happen often. Anyways, can we get back to the part where you were talking about my body?” She looked at him and raised her eyebrows suggestively.

“Nah. You know, I actually like curry,” she offered up switching back to the original topic. “My all-time favorite food is a cheeseburger, but I do love curry.”

“I actually am not a fan,” Neal responded. Christa gave him a shocked look and grabbed her purse.

“This is not going to work out. I’ll see you around at work,” she laughed and plopped back down in her seat. “Really though, we’re going to have to work on that.”

“We like very bland food in England. It’s all part of the package. You like the accent, you deal with the no curry.” He shrugged and smiled at her.

“Do you like beer?” she questioned. “That’s a British thing, right?”

“That it is. I like ale better. Americans make a piss poor ale unfortunately. Do you like beer or ale?”

“Uhh, not really. My ex always drank beer. I like wine some, but my go to drink is always a whisky sour.” He gave her an impressed look.

“Can’t do that,” he shuddered, “ugh, it just sounds terrible. I’m a gin and tonic drinker. It’s an acquired taste,” he added when she made a face at him.

“Good to know we won’t be drinking out of each other’s drinks when we go out.”

He nodded, “that’s almost a sure sign of relationship success.”

“Let’s do some compatibility testing” she suggested excitedly. He looked at her quizzically. “Like, if you were an animal, what would you be?”

“Dog, you?”

“Penguin.” He chuckled at her answer and she pressed on.

“What’s your favorite animal?”

“Christa, how is that different than the animal I’d be?”

“Because you can have a different favorite animal than the one you are most similar to.”

“I suppose,” he furrowed his brow as he pondered the question. “I will have to go with Komodo Dragon.” Christa chocked out a surprised laugh.

“Really?”

“What’s wrong with a Komodo Dragon?”

“Nothing. It’s just that my son and all of his friends loved lizards and dragons and all that stuff. I guess boys never do grow up.” He grinned and reached for her hand again at the mention of her son. Christa accepted the contact gratefully, but noted in that talking about her son with Neal was far less painful than it was with other people.

“Yeah, it does come from childhood. I always wanted a Komodo Dragon because it would have made me so cool.”

“You were just a little nerd, weren’t you?” She teased, entwining their fingers.

“No comment. What’s your favorite animal?”

“Hmmm,” she took a bite of her pancakes, “I like birds.”

“Birds?”

“Yeah, birds that sit in trees and sing to each other. They’re always so cheery and they’re cute. Nice colors and all that.”

“That is an unusual answer,” he commented, wondering if there was more of a story there. She shrugged and moved on.

“So, do you think we’re compatible?”

“Well, if we’re a dog and a penguin I just don’t see it working out. I can’t live in your needed climate, you’re much larger of a creature than me – “

“Only if I’m an Emperor Penguin. Some are much smaller,” she interjected.

“Okay, possibly much larger than me, and dogs cannot participate in the penguin reproduction process. Can you imagine a dog trying to carry a penguin around and keep it warm?” Christa laughed merrily along with his list of issues. He enjoyed watching her laugh and followed up with, “but…”

“Ohh, there’s a but?”

“But, everyone loves animal friendships. Especially cross species ones.”

“I do like the video where the lion, tiger, and bear are all friends,” she smiled. She trailed her fingers along the inside of his wrist and saw him shudder a bit at the touch. When he spoke again his voice was a bit huskier and his accent a bit stronger than before.

“I also think it’s good that we have different favorite animals. No fighting over who takes care of their respective pets. And no fighting over who gets the prime spot to watch them in their exhibit at the zoo.”

“Pets?” She raised her eyebrow. She moved her hand to trace his palm and moved her foot a bit up his leg. “You want a Komodo Dragon as a pet?” He swallowed and focused back onto Christa’s face. He had been picturing what the next few hours will look like for them. His apartment, less clothes. Maybe a shower, maybe together, and, of course, his bed. Well, a bed would be nice, but at this point he’d just accept some privacy.

“Sorry, um, yeah, Komodo Dragons are great, family friendly pets, right?” She chuckled and finished up her pancakes. Syrup slipped off the fork and onto her pointer finger. She absentmindedly put it into her mouth and sucked the syrup off to avoid getting the sticky substance on her clothes or in her hair. She finished licking it clean and looked up at Neal. He had a pained look on his face and his grip on her hand had tightened.

“Neal, are you alright?” When he answered, his voice came out husky and a bit chocked.

“No.” He paused briefly and took a deep breath. “Christa, is there any chance you are free for the rest of the morning and -”

She cut him off, “Hey Neal.”

“Yes.”

“I’m going to your house. To bed. Wanna come?”

He threw some money on the table and pulled her up and towards him quickly claiming her mouth. She felt a hint of what had put that pained look on his face and pushed her body deeper into his as she wound her arms up and around his neck. He pulled back slightly and gave a completely unnecessary verbal response.

“I’m going to say what I wanted to say a few weeks ago. Definitely.” He pressed another kiss firmly against her lips and then, hands clasped, they headed out to his car.

**Author's Note:**

> I love all the support you have given me and I love how much we as a fandom are growing the FanFic community for Christeal <3 Rock on guys!
> 
> Reviews and Kudos are appreciated :)


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